My Enemy, My Friend
by SadaraLochlan
Summary: Captain Sadara Lochlan is stranded on a strange world with a rival Klingon captain. Patience will be tested on both sides as they try to find their way back to their ships.


There were a number of things Captain Sadara Lochlan didn't take kindly to. The sudden, unscheduled, and unwilling transport of her person to a location not of her own choosing was one of them.

A dark eyebrow rose in defiance as she took in her surroundings. The Vulcan/Human hybrid couldn't be certain just yet, but it appeared to be the M class planet that she and Captain Tanas of the IKS Ch'tang had been "discussing" with each other over ship to ship communication just moments before. Both factions had an interest in this M class world. It was rich in resources and had appeared to be unpopulated according to sensors… except something or someone had brought her there.

Satisfied that she was in no immediate danger, Captain Lochlan whipped out her communicator.

"Lochlan to Essex; come in Essex."

Static was the only response. Somehow Lochlan hadn't doubted that. Whoever or whatever had the power to transport her here against her will very likely had the power to prevent her from contacting her ship.

Switching to her tricorder, she scanned her surroundings, hoping to identify anything that would give her a clue as to what was going on. Her only breakthrough discovery was that her counterpart from the Ch'tang had also been marooned on the planet a short distance away.

Captain Tanas and the Ch'tang had been assigned to patrol the Klingon side of the Neutral Zone for some time and he and Lochlan had exchanged words numerous times, mostly over territorial issues; but so far their ships had yet to engage in actual battle, no doubt to the chagrin of the arrogant Klingon captain.

Looking up from her tricorder, she spotted the imposingly tall Klingon male standing atop a small hill, staring down in her direction. His hands were poised at his hips as if he owned the place and his long, medium brown hair whipped in the wind. They simply stared at each other for a long moment, waiting to see if the other would speak or make a move.

There was still much unknown about the Klingons, but Lochlan hazarded that it would be to her benefit not to appear hesitant to approach him even though she really would have preferred to make him come to her. She made her way up the small hill, noting how his icy blue eyes narrowed suspiciously at her approach.

"**You** are responsible for this, Starfleet PetaQ!" Tanas spat, eyes blazing liquid blue fire.

Sadara Lochlan fought the urge to roll her eyes. "In case you haven't noticed, I am stranded here as well. It is highly unlikely that I would willingly choose to maroon myself on a strange planet with such volatile company."

Leaning his towering 6 ft 5 in. frame over the much smaller female, Tanas leered at her menacingly. "Well I certainly did not perform this act of cowardice and our scanners reported no other life forms on this planet so it must have been you."

Klingons… everything was black and white with them. If it wasn't staring them straight in the face, it simply didn't exist. Dealing with him was going to try her patience on so many levels. Still, she craned her neck up to meet his ominous gaze with unyielding authority. She was not about to be intimidated by some bloodthirsty Klingon warrior out for his cut of glory.

"There may be other forces at work that were undetectable by our respective technologies; perhaps an underground civilization with shielding and sensor evading capabilities superior to our own devices. Would also explain why were have been unable to contact our vessels and why our crews have been unable to beam us back to our ships so far."

"And how would you suggest we find and defeat these unseen captors?!" Tanas snarled, his expression incredulous as if he couldn't believe she could even suggest such a possibility.

Looking around, Sadara noted that the sky was beginning to darken as the sun dropped toward the horizon. Her initial impulse was to consider looking for some sort of shelter or campsite for the night and to resume their efforts to return to their ships at daybreak, but similar to Vulcans, Klingons had better senses at night than did humans. In the absence of fatigue they could both carry on. But carry on to where? They still had no way of confirming Lochlan's hypothesis.

"I am not certain of that yet. For the moment, I would suggest we try to put aside our cultural differences and attempt to locate a safe place to rest for the night. I will attempt to modify my tricorder to detect anything unusual that our shipboard sensors might have missed."

Growling deeply, Tanas relented. "Since I have nothing helpful to add, I will agree to an alliance. For now."

W^^^W^^^W

"I had not expected these two rival leaders to compromise so quickly, particularly the male who appears to be of a particularly aggressive species."

Thorpin, lead exosociologist and exopsychologist of the underground dwelling Venaran species leaned back in his chair as he observed with interest the interactions of the unsuspecting aliens above ground.

The Venarans were a humanoid species who had migrated underground a few centuries prior to find respite from the ever increasing luminosity of their planet's parent star. They had hoped to adapt naturally, but the star had brightened too quickly for Venaran biology to keep up. Over the last few centuries, technology had advanced greatly, but the Venarans, used to colder temperatures, chose not to return to the now warmer climates above ground. And with the recent developments in the technologies of nearby space faring species like the Klingons and the Humans, the Venarans chose to remove all indications of their presence from the surface of their homeworld.

Unfortunately, it seemed as if the absence of a civilization seemed to invite visitors as the Klingons and Humans rather enjoyed scoping out the planet for potential use for resources and colonization. Thorpin reflected that the Venarans may have no choice soon but to reappear at least long enough to let the curious know that the planet was indeed spoken for. The Venarans weren't particularly xenophobic, but they preferred to keep to themselves and had little interest in their homeworld becoming a pawn in the politics between sworn enemies. However, if they sat by and said nothing, their home may become the refuge of the ignorant.

For Thorpin though, the opportunity to study their behavioral patterns of the two aliens was irresistible.


End file.
